Fujifilm has announced its first power zoom lens for X-series cameras: the XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ. This compact, stabilized lens is equivalent to 23-69mm on Fuji's X-series cameras, such as the new X-A5 with which it will be kitted. It has a minimum focus distance of 5 cm, a length of 44mm (1.7") when fully collapsed and a weight of just 136 g (4.8 oz).

The XC 15-45mm F3.5-5.6 OIS PZ comes in silver and black and will ship in early February for $299.

Press Release:

FUJIFILM ANNOUNCES THE NEW X-A5 – THE LIGHTEST CAMERA-ZOOM LENS COMBINATION IN THE X SERIES LINEUP

Featuring an enhanced sensor, newly developed zoom lens, the latest Bluetooth® technology, and 4K video recording, the X-A5 delivers outstanding image quality and ease of use

Valhalla, N.Y., January 31, 2018 – FUJIFILM North America Corporation is excited to announce the new FUJIFILM X-A5 Digital Camera Body with XC15-45mm Lens Kit, the lightest camera-zoom lens combination within the X Series lineup. With a host of new and improved features, the X-A5 kit debuts the new FUJINON XC15-45mmF3.5-5.6 OIS PZ, the first electric powered zoom lens for X Mount digital cameras. Available in three colors of synthetic leather, the X-A5 is equipped with the latest Bluetooth® technology for quick and easy image transfer and allows for a broader range of video capabilities with its 4K output.

“The X-A5 packs Fujifilm’s renowned image quality and exciting fun features in a compact, lightweight body,” says Yuji Igarashi, General Manager of the Electronic Imaging Division & Optical Devices Division at FUJIFILM North America Corporation. “We are excited to bring a user-friendly camera that can capture great images, to the market at an affordable price.”

Featuring an Enhanced Sensor and Color Reproduction Technology

The X-A5 features a powerful 24.2MP APS-C sensor equipped with phase detection autofocus and a newly developed image processing engine with a processing speed 1.5 times faster than that of previous models. Combined with Fujifilm’s renowned color reproduction technology, the X-A5 achieves outstanding image quality and outperforms previous models in its scene recognition accuracy and skin tone reproduction, making it perfect for portraits.

The X-A5 is the first in the X-A series to feature phase detection pixels, and an intelligent Hybrid AF system that focuses twice as fast as previous models to ensure capture of swiftly moving subjects. With an ISO sensitivity range now up to ISO12800 and extended sensitivity range up to ISO51200, camera shake and noise are significantly reduced even in low-light conditions.

New Compact and Lightweight Electric Powered Zoom Lens

The new X-A5 introduces the first electric powered zoom lens for X Mount cameras, the FUJINON XC15-45mmF3.5-5.6 OIS PZ. With a minimum working distance of just 2 inches, this lightweight and compact lens is great for achieving clear close-up shots while making the photographic experience easy and comfortable. Capable of capturing crisp, intricate textures, the XC15-45mmF3.5-5.6 OIS PZ is ideal for food and macro photography. Starting at a wide angle, this smooth electric-powered zoom also allows for great freedom in composition framing.

The new XC15-45mmF3.5-5.6 OIS PZ lens will also be available for standalone purchase as a portable addition for existing X Series users.

Equipped with 4K Video Capabilities

The X-A5 features a variety of 4K video capabilities. Utilizing the Burst Function, users are able to shoot 15 frames per second in 4K image quality, ensuring that photo opportunities are never missed. Offering an HD video function to record videos up to quad speed for slow motion clips and a Multi Focus Mode which stacks 4K quality images and automatically changes the depth of field setting, the X-A5 is the perfect companion for a wide range of creative captures.

Bluetooth® Pairing Technology for Easy Image Transfer

Featuring the latest Bluetooth® technology, the X-A5 allows for automatic transfer of images and videos to paired smart devices using the free “FUJIFILM Camera Remote” app. The camera is compatible with Instax Share™ Printers to instantly transfer and print images directly from the camera.

Film Simulation Modes and Improved User Interface for Ease of Operation

The X-A5 allows for artistic expression through Fujifilm’s unique Film Simulation Modes that boast the company’s advances in color reproduction. Offering eleven different modes, users can add a creative twist to their images. In addition, the camera offers seventeen variations of Advanced Filters including the new “Fog Remove” and “HDR Art.”

An improved user interface allows for superior ease of use. The large LCD screen uses new touch-panel GUI, facilitating intuitive operation and is capable of rotating 180 degrees, making the X-A5 perfect for taking high quality self-portraits. When the panel is rotated 180 degrees, the Rear Command Dial switches to the Zoom and Shutter Release function and automatically activates the Eye AF function for sharp focus on the subject’s eyes. Additionally, the Portrait Enhancer Mode allows for users to select from three levels of skin tone enhancement with easy touchscreen operation.

Comments

I think this lens is better than the 16-50 by comparing the MTF curves:- wide, 15 lines/mm: this lens is slightly better at center & mid-frame, but slightly softer at the edges- wide, 45 lines/mm: this lens is much better at center, slightly better at mid-frame and much softer at the edges, but the M&S lines are closer and more uniform (better contrast?)- tele, 15 lines/mm: this lens is slightly better for the entire frame, and M&S lines are also closer.- tele, 45 lines/mm: this lens is slightly better at center and mid-frame, slightly softer at the edges, but the M&S lines are closer.

Wait and see... I am a little worried that this was announced together with an A-body... Almost as if Fuji were saying that we are getting into the crappy kit lens business that seems to be working for everybody else. Then again, it might be Fuji doing what Fuji does best -- showing that a cheap kit lens does not have to be bad...

Product page specifitaions/MFT chart shows a little weaker performance compared to 16-50. There are no wonders I guess. ;)Its up to You if this will be a deal breaker with the pros (size, short focus distance, price, etc.) in practice.

Not my cup of tea (PZ), but I'm happy for the new Fuji shooters who'll get this as their kit lens -- 22.5 mm equivalent on the short end, as well as .15 m min focusing distance open up some creative opportunities.

I have always wished the 16-50 kit was a little smaller and a little wider. 18/27/35 are small but not versatile enough. 10-24 and 18-135 are big and heavy.

To all those complaining about the power zoom and size compared to Sony's compact kit lens: this may not tick all your boxes but having more options is always good - it's not like all 16-50/18-55 lenses will disappear overnight.

The price is also not too bad, considering Fuji's usual over-optimistic RRPs. I don't see this lens as a $300 lens coming out now, I see it as a $200 lens that I will buy in one year's time.

My thoughts exactly. This would be a great "kit" lens, especially for travel. However, the price is half that of the 18-55, and I suspect before considering purchasing this nifty lens I need to see some good test results. The 18-55 is a fine lens, and I'd like to keep that same quality in a short zoom.

Does a Fuji owner know if, when using a power zoom, some Fuji bodies allow you to start the camera at a preset focal length or can be set to remember the last used focal length when switching the camera off then on ? This is a must-have feature for street photography when using a power zoom, IMHO...

This should also be "kitted" with the X-E3. Would make a great street combo and the 22.5mm(equivalent) wide end would be really tempting. Though it wouldn't be as great optically(I presuming anyway) as what is offered as kit lenses with that camera it would broaden its appeal, especially for travelers.

Hopefully this one is better than the XC 16-50 (that wasn't a terrible lens either, but I hope this one is better optically). But my expectations aren't high, as it is in the XC line ("hobbyist") line, not the higher grade XF line. At least they made it smaller (I think the Xc 16-50 and it's bigger brother the XF 18-55 are about the same length).

IDK. either way I'm not a big fan of power zooms. I'd rather have a manual zoom lens (one less thing to go wrong on it later I guess, unless of course you can manually override the zoom with the zoom ring).

I'm not even sure why there IS a power zoom. It's not like it's a long range, or the zoom hard to operate. It's good for video, I suppose. I'll stick with the 18-55. But then, I'm not the demographic for the 15-45. I'm sure it a great lens, overall, and its tiny size is perfect for the X-A5. It has some nice features too (like the rather wide end and close focusing).

I'm not sure either myself. Unless it was the only way they could fit a close competitor of the 16-50 into a smaller package maybe? I don't know as I don't know a ton about design considerations when it comes to lens design and construction . And the 15-45 is probably not a good choice for me, as the 18-55 is barely long enough for my needs (55mm almost doesn't cut it for me in some cases).

You can adapt B4-mount video lenses to M43. You get full coverage if your lens has a 2x extender, or you can use video crop mode. This opens up the possibility of using lenses that are parfocal, fixed-aperture, and have much larger zoom ranges. Plus, you get simple and reliable analog servo control over things like zoom, focus, and aperture.

I got an A-series 20x Fujinon for $100 new-in-box. It's not bad stopped down starting at about f/4. This sounds bad but I use it in good light, 1080p, and primarily where I need fast and smooth zoom. An HA or XA HD/UHD lens would of course be better, but these tend to start at around $2 and go way up from there.

As for power, I bought a cheap 12.6V lipoly battery pack. It's literally nothing more than 3 lipoly batteries in series and a 12.6v charger. I cut it down to fit inside the metal joystick box and drilled holes so I can reach the charging jack without opening up the case.

A useful lens at an affordable price. If the image quality is good, this will make a very nice kit option. Its smalll size, low weight, and 24-70mm zoom range could make this a good choice for casual walking-around photography as well. The smallish aperture is a bit limiting, but of course a larger one would have increased the lens’ size, weight, and cost so I feel like it’s an acceptable trade-off.

It looks like a nice little workhorse, if you ask me. On paper, at least. Will be interested to see how it actually performs.

Yeah, I couldn’t remember the exact focal numbers and was too lazy to go back and look them up. :-) I don’t think there’s any practical difference between 22.5mm and 24mm though. (And anyway focal length ratings are nominal, not exact. If you take a lens and actually measure its field of view, it’s common for it to be slightly different from what the listed focal length would lead you to expect.) It’s not until you get to about 18mm that you start to get that really wide look, IMO.

" I don’t think there’s any practical difference between 22.5mm and 24mm though."At the wide end, every mm counts. I disagree about having to go to 18mm FF equivalent to feel a wide look. Fuji's 14mm lens has an obvious extra wide angle look, for instance. Sure it's not as strong as 12mm Samyang, but still. Having this range that starts at 15mm is much more versatile.

I guess, Fuji will correct huge distortion and vignetting at 15mm by the means of cropping in software. So, when using JPEG, the angle of view will be closer to 24 or 25mm, than to 23mm. So, your counting of mm here is useless.

The extra-wide FOV and image stabilisation could make this a valuable addition to the lens line-up, as long as IQ is maintained. $300 is steep for a kit lens though, will need to wait and see what the street price is like, but the current 16-50mm is already over-priced for a slow kit lens.

It’s a kit lens. It’s cheap and light, not to mention stabilized. Plasticky build quality is to be expected, but if the optics are good I think that’s forgivable in a lens of this type. But yes, if you’re willing to spend $700 instead of $300, the 18-55 is likely the better choice for most people.

This is a not some ordinary plastic, but PC, polycarbonate, one manufacturer make real gun just by PC, its a very rugged plastic and I also used one lens with same mount durng the 12 years without any even small problem... for such light lens its absolutely not problem... Metal mount is very necessary for lenses with a weight about 500g and more...

There are some lenses with the metal bayonet mount that screwed to the plastic lens body!Is it any better that way? Plastic on the lightweight lens is as good as it should be.I would be more concerned about accuracy tolerances of the internals of the lens. Like how wear resistant it is made, how many times it needs to retract to loose initial optical specifications, etc...For example. Sony PZ1650 (16-50mm kit lens). It turns into the garbage (loses optical alignment) after about 100 cycles of turning on and off.Just like local camera store salesperson told me when I was testing Sony 18-105 zoom lens before purchase -"This is not a professional lens and you are not a typical buyer".It is a $299 lens which is pretty ok for Fuji.

There's nothing wrong with "plastic" mounts as long as they are well designed and engineered. This is a fairly small and very lightweight lens and I see no reason to worry about this particular design detail. I have mounted and dismounted my plastic fantastic Olympus 40-150 hundreds of times and there is not a hint of play anywhere and optically it behaves as good as it did when I bought it few years back. I would expect Fuji to do no worse than that.

I've had the 16-50 with plastic build and mount and the 18-55 with metal body and mount they are on different worlds. I suppose if you never take the lens of or knock it you could get by with the 16-50 but you're really going to want the metal 18-50 given the opportunity if you've seen both . If I go for this I'll get body only and buy the 18-55 again grey cheap on eBay.Just throwing in, I've read talk of plastic fragments shaving off mounts and fouling sensors, hasn't happened to me just mentioning it

I really appreciate the trend to go wider. Kit zooms starsting at 18mm are not wide enough and therefore not suitable as the only lens; so even though the Fuji 18-55mm is optically great, you need at least one wider lens to complement it. Zooms starting at 16mm are much better, I have such zoom and it can serve as the only lens even for landscapes in most cases, however I put the small 15mm prime to my pocket as well. So a lens that starts at 15mm (22,5mm eq.) is very useful for a travel lens that uses the wide end most of the time.Thumbs up for Fuji. I hope other manufacturers will be inspired by this.

Grive: I am aware of Fujinons 16-50 (both the cheap and slow kit zoom, as well as the expensive f2,8 version), however 15mm is even better and very rare. Actually it´s the only kit zoom that is this wide (Canon has the 15-45mm lens, however with smaller sensor and crop factor of 1,6 it equals to 16mm on Fuji).

PZ and me-too's: While I dislike PZ (battery hogs and prone to self-destruction), I wish that Sony would also come with a new pancake kit 13-42 of better IQ - also wide open and to the range extremes. Speed is not essential. Size and IQ are.

IQ: TBD. Fuji already has some stellar lenses -albeit not small-- and Samsung's NX (RIP) has shown what's possible in this range.

Net: Seems an interesting light/compact kit with macro. The IQ will decide, but it's a Fuji, not a Sony ;-)

Well it sounds like this is intended to be a kit zoom, so many of the people using it will have it as their only lens at least at first. In that context, I think having a bit of mild telephoto is a better choice than a lens that only goes from wide to normal. It makes it more versatile.

44mm is not very compact. Sony lens is 30mm which means you can put in in your pocket. Somehow something is holding Fuji from making small lightweight cameras. Even when they know customers are asking for it.

Yes. And if you're going to bang the lens hard enough to break a plastic mount, you're going to break the lens anyway. According to Lensrentals, plastic mounts may actually be *better* in terms of reliability compared to metal mounts.

I disagree. I'm a prime shooter and this is exactly what I want. A street zoom that doesn't pretend to be a prime in low light, but rivals my primes in size. If it retains Fuji's great image quality, it will be an excellent lens in daylight. Then come night-time I'll slap on a prime, any of which would edge out even the 18 - 55 f2.8: 4 in low light anyways.

But to your point, yes... for prime-purists, this will not be in their bag.

If it's sharpness you want my 16-50mm is sharper than the 18-55mm. It doesn't have the same micro-contrast though, and you can't turn it up in post and get the same result. Pics from the more expensive lens just look better.

Being an XC lens I would expect it to have the same optical characteristics as it's half the price of the XF "kit" lens. We can't have everything....

Saurat I like the focal length range and the compact size. I'm not interested in the power zoom aspect, and I wasn't comparing it to the 2.8-4/18-55, which is a fine, if not very compact, lens. This lens is also much cheaper. Don't get your panties in a wad.

the 18-55 is the kit lens for the X-T2 and X-Pro2. But you are correct, "kit lens" from other brands are much worse, the XF18-55 is an amazing kit lens. On the other Hand, the cheaper XC zooms are also really good (optical). Yes, they are slower and with a cheaper built, but you can't complain about the optical quality. I own the XC50-230, and it's an amazing lens for the price. This new 15-45 has an appealing focal lenght. So it could be a good solution for travelling, when faster apertures are not neccesary.

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